Johnny Giavotella, Clint Robinson To Start PCL All-Star Game

Johnny Giavotella and Clint Robinson are having incredible seasons in Omaha so far, and they’re both being rewarded with starts in the Pacific Coast League All-Star Game on July 13.

Giavotella, our #13 prospect entering 2011, is hitting .323/.377/.443/.820 this season with 22 doubles and nine stolen bases.  He’s had an amazing June, racking up a .390 average and .995 OPS this month, including the most hits of any professional player at any level (45).  For the year, he has 105 hits.

Robinson has carried on from his 2010 Texas League Triple Crown winning season by hitting .330/.404/.573/.977 all season with 17 homers.  He leads the Storm Chasers in homers, RBI, runs scored and walks.  We had him ranked #19 in our prospect rankings before the season.

They aren’t the only Storm Chasers invited to the game.  With David Lough and Lorenzo Cain having strong seasons, I thought they might have a shot, but instead Luis Mendoza – yes THAT Luis Mendoza – will be a PCL All-Star.

His 2.75 ERA leads the Pacific Coast League.  He’s probably been lucky, as he’s walked 3.5 batters per nine innings and only struck out 3.9 per nine, but hey… he’s still leading the PCL over 75.1 innings.  Can’t deny him that.

In other minor league All-Star news:

* Leonel Santiago and Greg Billo appeared in the Midwest League All-Star Game, representing the Kane County Cougars (Low A).  Santiago threw one scoreless inning, walking one and striking out two.  Billo gave up two hits but struck out one and gave up no runs.

* Whit Merrifield went 1-4, John Whittleman went 0-2 and Rey Navarro drove in the only run scored by the Carolina League All-Stars in their loss to the California League’s representatives.  Fellow Wilmington Blue Rocks Jake Odorizzi and Michael Mariot threw an inning each, both recording a strikeout.  Odorizzi’s inning was perfect but Mariot gave up a run.

* Wil Myers, Salvador Perez and Jeff Bianchi were all 0-2 for the Texas League North All-Stars but Anthony Seratelli had a double while Kelvin Herrera retired the only batter he faced and Buddy Baumann struck out two with a walk and a hit (but no runs against) in his one inning of work.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us onTwitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.